Darma Valley-Panchachuli Base Camp Trek : Information and Trek Report

Myself and ks_bluechip (KS) have just returned from the trek to Darma Valley-Panchachuli Base Camp ( July 10-19). For me, it was an unique experience as the home stay enable me to understand the cultural ethos of the Rung as they are known as such ( they dislike being called as Bhotia). This is an easy trek except for some scary spots between Dar and Nangling. After Baling, it is more or less a straight walk mostly through fields and bugyals. In terms of the degree of difficulties, this trek is slightly difficult than Pindari Glacier but easier than Milam Glacier trek. From Nangling onwards, on clear days, you can view Panchachuli group of peaks, the Nangling group of peaks and a couple of unnamed peaks. Since the highest altitude on this trek is 3470m at Panchachuli Base Camp (PCBC), one does not feel the altitude problem. There is a lot of vegetation even at this altitude.

This trek has all the ingredients of an ideal trekking destination - a bit of adventure ( at least a dozen odd major landslides and rock falls points apart from walking 1 km of rock cut narrow path on a perpendicular rock base sending shiver in the spine, at least for me), forests of silver oak, rhododendron, pines and birch trees, the company of Dauliganga river right from Tawaghat up to Tidang, with its deep gorges in some places, at least a dozen bugyals on the way, varieties of wide flowers from Sela onwards ( in July-August only), snow capped mountains, Meola glacier ( if one is willing to trek 3-4 kms more from PCBC and take calculated risk of crevasses on it and rock falls), the scenic villages especially after Nangling with table top flat green farms, houses with rare wood carvings, some of them as old as 100-150 years and many more.

There is no need to carry tents and provisons in this trek as there are home stays in villages in this route. There are many water sources en route. As mentioned earlier, some of the villages especially Baling, Son-Dagtu, Dantu ( and likewise Filum, Bon and Gow villages on the left bank of Dauliganga) are located in scenic spots and worthy of spending at least one day each. In my view, this trek is a photographer’s delight as there is a lot scope for photography in this trek.

KMVN is in process of construction its Rest Houses at Urthing, Baling and Son ( as usual in good locations). Once these are complete, I am sure this trek route will become more popular ( may be even crowded during season) than what it is now.

Based on our experience and the information gathered from the local villagers, KMVN and our guide/porters, some basic details of the trek are as under:

The Best Period

The best time to undertake this trek is May-June and September-October. Summer at lower altitude - say up to Sela can be intense as we have experienced. Hence, it is better to carry sun lotion. Monsoon season can bring a lot of misery on the trekking route especially between Tawaghat and Nangling which have about a dozen landslides/boulders/rock falls points. Furthermore, the chances of viewing Panchachuli and other peaks are low during monsoon. However, monsoon is the time when there are all round greenery with plenty of wild flowers from Sela onwards as we have observed.

September-October period will generally have clear sky most of the days for good view of peaks. For those who are fond of snow, one can trek during March-April and November-December. Our route guide told me that this year, he had taken a group of trekkers to PCBC in the month of April. On returning from PCBC, they slided on the snow all the way to Meola river bed and trekked towards Dagtu/Dantu.

Dharchula- the Base for the trek

Dharchula is an ideal place to make preparatory arrangements for Darma Valley trek ( also for Adi Kailash trek through Byans valley). It has a big market, good connectivity to various places in Kumaon and the broad-band cyber cafe. You need to spend one night here to get the Inner Line Permit (ILP) from SDM’s Office, the next morning. It is surprising that Dharchula is yet to get the mobile connectivity though mobiles with roaming facility can pick up signals from Nepal towers. The rail heads for onward journey to Dharchula are Kathgodam and Tanakpur from where there are early morning daily buses to Dharchula, From Kathgodam, one can reach Dharchula by evening by taking share-jeep which departs between 5.00-6.00 a.m. The fare per head is Rs.350/-. The share jeep will not take more than 10 passengers and it halts only 3-4 places en route for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. Hence, there is not much of a discomfort in travelling in share jeep except that 12 hours journey for oldies like us can be tiresome.

Inner Line Permit (ILP)

One need to take ILP to enter Darma Valley beyond Sela. The one page application form ( in duplicate) together with a copy of photo identity documents (PAN Card, Voter Identity Card, Passport and two passport size photographs are to be submitted to SDM’s Office in Dharchula (located on the main road). SDM’s Office opens at 9.00 a.m. Since the SDM’s Office is closed on Sundays, 2nd and 4th Saturdays and Central Government holidays, one has to plan the trek schedule accordingly. We personally visited the SDM’s Office at around 9.30 a.m. and submitted the application to SDM. After verifying the contents of the application, he directed us to meet the section officer for further actions. We got the ILP by 10.00 a.m. and we were in share jeep for Dar by 10.45 a.m. In my view, submission of applications for ILP in persons to SDM (rather than through guide/porters) hastens the process.

It is better to plan for staying in Dharchula for two nights as it is possible that SDM may be out of his office on a visit to nearby villages or some other official duties. For instance, when our guide went to SDM’s Office immediately after reaching Dharchula in the afternoon, SDM had gone with a batch of Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrims to see them off at Mangti. Sela is the first village where trekkers/visitors are required to show ILPs at ITBP camp for registration. Similar procedure is followed at Baling and Tidang. There is no ban on photography at least up to Tidang ( our last trekking village).

The Other Logistics

One does not really need a guide for this trek during season as all the routes are well marked by PWD with distance in kms from Tawaghat painted every one km. Even if some one has digressed from the route, he would ultimately join the main route within a km or so. There are home stays in every villages on the trekking route who provides basic accommodation and the breakfast of Aloo Parathas, Puris and some places Omelette, lunch/dinner of rice/roti and dal/vegetables at reasonable rates. Normally, the rates for overnight stay in these villages are Rs.50/- per person and Rs.100/- if the bed is provided. Lunch/Dinner will cost you between Rs.30/- per thali which may go up to Rs.50/- as you go further up. There are toilet facilities in some home stays at Bongling, Sela and Nangling. Since most of the home stay do not provide mattresses, it is better to carry sleeping bags with mats and one bed sheet. In most of the villages, there are one or two shops which stock Maggie, biscuits, cigarettes, batteries, beverages etc. We carried some assorted varieties of soup powder packets which came very handy during the cold evenings. It should be noted that all villages from Sela upwards are summer settlement villages during May-October who migrate from their winter places in early May each year. Hence, those who wish to undertake this trek during November-April will have to make their own arrangements for stay and food.

Electricity and Communications

Dharchula has fairly good power supply. There are power supply lines up to Bongling but villagers say that there is no power supply most of the days during day time. There is no electricity beyond New Sobla though Bongling had, one time, night power supply but some dispute between the villagers and the service provider had led to the cutting of the power for the last two years. There are solar lights installed at Sela which is available between 7.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. ITBP in Sela and Tidang have generator facilities at night during which time you can get your camera/mobile batteries charged free of cost from them.

The mobile phones does not work beyond Ogla unless one has in his mobile the roaming facility in which case, it may pick up signals from Nepal in some places like Dharchula and Sobla. BSNL’s satellite telephones facilities have now been installed at Sela, Baling and Tidang which are operated by ITBP and charge @Re.1/- per minute. There are plans to install such telephone facilities in other villages also. The last place in this part of Kumaon having the broad-band cyber cafe is Dharchula.

Alternative Route

For adding more adventure in the trek and for those who do not wish to go through the "tyranny" of repetition of places while doing a return trek, there is an alternative route from the left bank of Dauliganga river ( direction in terms of origin of the river). After crossing a wooden bridge over Lasser Yankti river, at Tidang, the trek to the left goes to Marchha and Sipu villages while trek to the right goes to Gow village. Somewhere before Gow village, this path meets the trek route to Bidang which goes from the upper slope of the mountain. The lower slope continues towards Gow , Bon, Filum and Chal villages. Between these villages, there are 2or 3 wooden bridges over Dhauliganga for accessing the main trekking route. Although, this trek route is visible from the right bank of Dauliganga, I have not seen any villagers walking on this route ( may be I missed seeing them) except at stretch between Gow onwards towards Bidang. A shepherd told me that the stretch in some places between Bon and Chal so narrow that only hardy villagers venture on this route. One may try this route only after getting detail information about this alternative route. Perhaps the villagers in this part of the area may be best to provide proper guidance.

Trek Report and Pictures

I will post our Trek Report by this month-end. In the meanwhile, I have started uploading some pictures of the trek at http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...ser/20752/sl/s

Sadanand

That's a very informative trek report.Thanks for posting.
Will be waiting for more.

Dharma Valley Trek (Highlights) - 33 pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ks_blue...7621716265553/

Dharma Valley Trek (All pics) - 216 pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ks_blue...7620672896037/

.
.

Sadanand Sir And Ks_bluechip Sir

Hats Off To You Guys...you Guys Are My Inspiration. I Saw Your Trek Report To Roopkund On Your Blog Page, It Was Hard Enough As You Had Accident And Some Other Health Problems. And Now This Trek!!!!

You Guys Are Great. Absolutely Great!!!

I had a relook at our Trek Route on Google Earth after coming back to Mumbai. Its amazing ... the entire route and Dharma Valley is seen in Hi-Resolution images of Google-Earth!

I could see the whole trail, every house, every stream, every bridge and every landslide clearly on it

I have corrected some of my earlier Placemarks and I have now added Placemarks for every Home/Guest-House where we home-stayed the night. They are in the attached ZIP-file containing the Google-Earth-KMZ.

Once Sadanand (SK) adds Part-2 of our Trek Tour's Daily Summary, you might find it interesting to track our Trek using this file.
.
.

SK and KS - Great to hear that you are back after a good trip. Great post.. Waiting for Part 2..

I have checked the google maps file. I am curious about the valleys which lies next to your trek. They are between your trek and tibet, and somewhat close to tibet. Like on your north-east, running almost parallel to you.

Do you know anything about any of those valleys? Or heard anything about them from locals over there? Who lives there? I am just curious.

In pic attached, those two valleys are marked with red circle and black circle around them.

@wind-chariot: Do we know anything about that parallel valley? We know lots more about that Byans valley (marked red by you) than the one we actually trekked! Thats the famous Adi-Kailash Trek route; hundreds go to Adi-Kailash and Om-Parvat near Jolinkong on pilgrimage. And BTW: the initial part of that route is also common to the main Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar trek route.

At Darchula-KMVN there was big group of Adi-Kailash pilgrims staying and luckily we managed to get the last room available there. KMVN conducts regular pilgrim-group Tours to Adi Kailash (Delhi-to-Delhi) every year in this season.

Incidentally, Sadanand (SK) has trekked the Adi-Kailash route many years ago. His Blog link (below his signature) must be having that trek story in detail. Also, it is possible to cross over from Darma valley to Byans valley via Bidang, Sinla-Pass to Jolingkang. In some earlier periods, this route via Darma valley to Adi-Kailash was also used. During our Trek we did meet local villagers on the trail, but no other tourists or trekkers at all in the entire 9-10 period.

Tip: When viewing GoogleEarth, please keep the "Wikimapia" layer under "Geograpic-Web", turned On. That will show you all Wikimapia placemarks put by users and you will see lots of places.
.
.
.

This is Jaswant Singh Sonal ... "Chaacha" lives in the village of Son. Thats why his surname is Sonal. Son (pronounced 'sone') is a village of 10-15 homes, in the ridge above Daktu Village and is almost a part of Daktu Village. In fact, the Daktu post office, is in Son Village.

Chaacha's home is opposite the Postmaster's house. He has lived in Son every summer, since childhood. He remembers and talks a lot of the past prosperity and glory of Darma Valley. When this was one of the 3 major trade routes between Tibet and India. When Bidang-Mandi flourished and operated in a huge bugyal near Bidang village.

He has a large house here in Son; comes up from the plains and lives here every summer, for 6 months. Why? mostly to avoid the heat of the plains. He loves the fresh air here and the cool breeze blowing down from the Panchahuli range, just 7-8 Kms from Son. Besides he also grows local varieties of grains that sell in Pithoragarh at price per/kg much higher than rice and wheat.

Chaacha knows a lot about Darma valley and is willing to share all that with anyone willing to lend a patient ear!
.
.

Thanks KS for the wonderful information. I was thinking that valley must be inhabited as it is very near to tibet as well as nepal. But wow, hundreds of people go there regularly for pilgrimage!!

Can you provide some information about that valley in black circle? it looks like T shaped valley connected to darma valley. Is it famous too? have you encountered the path going towards that one as i can see, your route passed through the region.

I have no information about the short T-shaped valley marked in black by you. I think it is just short 'draining' valley that send a stream down, that joins the main Dhauli-Ganga river below Sela village.

I doubt if there are any villages in there; but there may be some pastures/bugyals there. I was surprised that areas that "appear" as desolate, brown, landscapes in Google-Earth were actually lush green grasslands on the ground! (proof: see the photos) Maybe because it was so because we went in the monsoon saeson.
.

Hmm...so it is some mysterious valley I hope to be in the middle of it someday

Yes goole-earth does that frequently. Some regions lush green and another tile just besides it dusty brown like in drought!!!

I can't see any 'Wikimapia' under Geographic Web layer. I can see 'Wikipedia' but not 'Wikimapia'

Dharam Singh Sonal, The Postmaster of Dagtu-PO, an extremely gentle and soft-spoken person with very unassuming demeanour. He answered all my queries slowly and haltingly.

He walks 16Kms (to and fro) everyday to Nagling to collect the postal mail for Dagtu (and for a few other villages up the valley). He leaves home daily at 8:00am and is back by 2:30pm. His home is also the Post Office as you can see in the picture (below).

He has this PO job only for 6 summer months. In winter, when he is down in the plains there is no job. We asked him "how come Post-Office does'nt re-deploy him in other job in Pithoragarh?" He just gestured with his hand, smiled, and said he doesn't know the answer to that.

Does he feel lazy on some days? And skip that arduous 16km trek to Nagling?? No, No .. only on some rare days, when it is raining heavily and he cannot hold the umbrella in the wind!

Does he distribute the letters to individual homes? Not really .... mostly the villagers see him coming back into village and so meet him and take their letters at Tea-shop down below in Daktu. Letters to other villages? Their postmen come here in the evening at 4pm and take it from me to those Villages (Bon, Go, Filum etc.)

What else does he do? He tills some land and grows a variety of local grains and vegetables.

His kids are in Darchula where they go to school. His wife lives there and takes care of them. He manages on his own here mostly.

But the day we reached Dagtu, when he returned from Nagling, his wife was also with him along with the day's mail! She had come up, to help her husband with the sowing; since the monsoon was just starting to arrive. Her children would be taken care of, for sometime, by her relatives in Darchula. There was a rush of neighbours in the Postman's frontyard that day. They came to say hello and gather news of Darchula from Mrs Postmaster.

Btw: Mr. Jaswant Singh Sonal "Chaacha", is also the real Chaacha of Dharam Singh.

Attaching pictures of Dharam Singh (Postmaster), his wife and their home in Son (which is also the Post Office). Incidentally we home-stayed with them for two nights.

PS: Added 4th picture (by SK) of neighbors dropping in to gossip with Mrs Postmaster, in their frontyard
.
.

Yes, brown, green or white, depends on which season the satellite last passed over that valley, to gather the image of that strip of earth!

Ooops ... sorry about Wikimapia. That isn't in Geographic Web layer. Actually, now I remember, somebody gave sent me a sort of wizard that establishes the link between G-earth with Wikimapia. If I remember it was somebody here on IM on some other thread. If I locate that, I will let you know.

Meanwhile you can see Wikimapia site independently, in your IE browser ( http://wikimapia.org/ ) in the Darma Valley area to see those placenames.
.
.

Interesting SK & KS !!! looking forward to read the balance